Divine Intervention
by ShelbyElizabeth
Summary: Ziva puts her life at risk to save Tony's. Now, she's in the hospital while her mind visits Heaven and gets a little push in the right direction from a former team member. Winner of the NFA "People You Meet In Heaven" Challenge. Tiva with mentions of Tate


Divine Intervention

Tony DiNozzo was sitting in the emergency room waiting for news, any news. He secluded himself in a corner far from the others. He could see McGee and Abby sitting very close, facing each other, and whispering. Near them, Gibbs and Ducky sat in silence.

It seemed like a complete group, the full picture, but it wasn't. Someone was missing, the most important someone. She was there of course, but on the other side of the operation. Ziva, the ninja warrior, was in critical condition from a hit and run.

Tony had been on his way to work when he saw a very pretty girl crossing the street. He casually rolled to a stop near where she waited for the little blinking man to tell her when she could go. "Ziva," he said, "You can't avoid me forever. Please get in the car," he pleaded out the open window.

She turned to him, anger in her eyes. "It is your fault that I am walking in the first place Tony, now go away!"

It was true; it was his fault. His car had been in the shop, and Ziva, the kind soul that she was, let him borrow her Mini Cooper in order to go to his cousin's wedding. He wasn't sure why she had agreed, but he did his best not to dwell on it; he didn't want to consider the possibility of one of them having romantic feelings for the other. It was an honest mistake; he hadn't thought to take any special precautions when he parked on the steep hill of the church driveway.

He regretted his actions when he was leaving the chapel only to find that the car was not where he had left it. It wasn't far, just down at the end of the driveway. Where it had collided. With the minister's car.

Now Ziva's car was in the shop, and she was royally pissed off at Tony. "Come on Ziva," Tony begged.

Ziva ignored him. She tapped her foot impatiently on the sidewalk; she wanted nothing more than to get away from Tony, or she might say something she would regret later. There wasn't too much traffic, but the slow trickle of cars going by was enough that she could not cross without getting hit.

He didn't like it when she ignored him. Tony turned off the car and stepped out to go after her. She did not turn when he stopped at her side. "Ziva, are we really going to play this game? I said I was sorry, and meant it! I'm paying for the damages. What else do you want me to do?"

The light turned, and Ziva began to cross. Tony did not want to leave his car on the side of the street, but he decided to follow her. "Ziva, at least do me the courtesy of answering my question!" he yelled from a few steps behind the angry woman.

She turned, still in the middle of the street. "I do not know Tony! Perhaps you could go back in time and not allow my car to hit anything!" she yelled back.

Her face turned slightly pink as she responded, she was getting much too angry to talk to him anymore for the rest of the day. Tony took the opportunity to catch up to her. She turned and prepared to run the rest of the way to work if she had to, but he wrapped his rather large hand around her wrist. "Ziva you know I can't do that. Give me something that I can actually do," his eyes bore into hers.

Ziva did not respond. She halfheartedly tried to wrench her arm out of his grasp. "Tony, let go of me," she used her 'warning' voice.

In a split second, everything changed. Maybe it was because someone was driving recklessly, maybe it was because Tony didn't see the blue Impala coming, or maybe it was because Ziva tried to save him. Whichever reason it was, everything changed.

The car came careening around the corner and she had to react fast. She ripped her arm free of Tony's hand and pushed him as hard as she could. He fell backward and hit his head on the pavement. He blinked vigorously to regain his sight, and all he could hear was the screeching of tires as a car tore off into the distance. Quickly, he sat up and looked around. "Ziva," he crawled over to her.

She was lying on the pavement in a crumpled heap. He put his fingers to her neck; there was still a pulse, but it was very faint. It took Tony a moment to realize that he was now dotted with her blood.

He pulled off his jacket and held it tightly to the wound near her collarbone; it seemed to be the worst of her cuts and contusions. Using his other hand, he extracted his cell phone and dialed for an ambulance. He hung up the phone and focused his full attention on the unconscious woman at his side. "Ziva, please don't let go," he said quietly, wishing for her to wake up and tell him that she was fine.

She didn't move.

"Ziva," a soft voice said, "It's time to wake up."

She blinked furiously. Once her eyes adjusted to being used, they were assaulted by the bright light that shone down on her. She sat up slowly and looked around. She was in a large, open room that was decorated all in white. The furniture looked familiar to Ziva. After a moment, she realized that the room was an exact replica of the NCIS bullpen, only in shades of white.

In fact, the only color in the room, besides the Mossad officer, was the woman sitting next to her. "Hello Ziva," the woman said gently.

"Who are you? Where am I? What is going on?" Ziva did not like her new surroundings.

The woman smiled weakly. "You're in heaven. I don't know how to tell you this, but there's been an accident."

An accident? It all came rushing back to her; the fight, the car, the shove. "Tony!" she was suddenly very frightened.

"He's fine. He's waiting for you," the woman assured her.

Ziva was confused. "So, he is here as well?"

"No Ziva, he's waiting for you at the hospital."

Ziva felt as though someone was playing a cruel prank on her. "Who are you? Is this really heaven?" she continued her barrage of questions "Am I dead?"

"Yes this is really heaven, and no, you're not dead. Like I said, there's been an accident. You're in surgery right now," she gestured out the window.

Ziva peered out. She could see herself being operated on by a team of doctors and nurses. She backed away from the window as the woman continued. "I thought you'd like waiting up here better than waiting down there."

"Who are you?" Ziva decided to try one question at a time in order to get the answers she wanted.

"I'm Special Agent Kate Todd. It's nice to finally meet you Ziva."

The situation made more sense now. She tried to relax a little. "I did not realize that heaven looked like this," she indicated the desks.

"Oh, it doesn't all look like this. This is just my personal heaven. I chose it because it was my favorite place on earth; it's where I was happiest."

Ziva turned to her and studied her face. "So you are Kate. I have heard many things about you."

"If Tony's still talking about that wet t-shirt contest, when you get back down there, I want you to hit him for me!" Kate's face went from serene to livid in a matter of seconds, "Oh, Tony, that reminds me that I actually had something to talk to you about. When are you going to tell him that you're in love with him?"

Ziva looked as though Kate's words had smacked her in the face. "What are you talking about?"

Kate shook her head. "There's no reason to be shy about it. I've seen the evolution of you and Tony's relationship. Now, when are you going to tell him?"

Ziva was caught. She couldn't argue with an angel. "I do not intend to say anything; he does not feel the same way about me."

"Are you kidding me? You're only saying that because you haven't seen the little looks that he gives you when you're working. The man is in love with you," Kate was familiar with the feelings that Ziva was having, and she wasn't about to let another blossoming relationship go unexplored.

"He is not in love with me; we are partners," Ziva was being intentionally stubborn; she liked hearing that Tony loved her, even if it was from someone that she did not know. Even if that someone was dead.

"Ok, now you're just fishing," Kate rolled her eyes, "You know, I'm sure that if I hadn't been shot by your half-brother, thank you for getting him back, Tony and I would have had a romantic relationship. I don't want anyone else to miss out on things like that; life's too short," she broke off and observed Ziva's face; maybe bringing up Ari wasn't the best thing for her to do, but it's too late for that now, "Please promise me that you will at least think about what I said."

"Fine, I promise," Ziva said reluctantly.

"Good," Kate walked over to the window and peered downwards, "I think it's time for you to go back now. Lay down on the floor," she commanded.

Ziva did as she was told and looked up at the beautiful angel. She was going to ask how it worked, but Kate spoke again. "Can you please do me a favor?"

Ziva nodded.

"Give Tony a kiss from me," she said quietly, "Now, close your eyes, and when you open them again, you'll be in the hospital. Goodbye Ziva."

"Goodbye Kate," Ziva let her eyelids flutter shut.

Tony had not left her side since the doctor had allowed them to visit Ziva. McGee and Abby had returned to NCIS long ago to get evidence on the Impala. When they called with a name and address, Gibbs went to go pick up the suspect and take him in for interrogation. Ducky went as well, just in case Gibbs went overboard with his questioning and an autopsy would be necessary. Now, it was just Tony.

Three days later, Ziva awoke. She had been awake before, but this was the first time that she was coherent enough to talk to. "Tony?" she noticed the mop of untidy hair resting on the side of the bed.

He shot up in his seat. "Ziva, you're awake! How are you feeling?"

"I am fine. Are you alright?"

Tony gave her a quizzical look. "You got hit by a car after pushing me out of the way, and you're asking if I'm alright? Unbelievable…" he shook his head a little, but stopped and looked into her eyes, "Thank you, by the way, for saving me," he looked sincere.

Ziva didn't know what to say. "You are welcome. You would have done the same for me."

"Well, I don't know about that. If you had crashed my car, I would have been pretty pissed. I think I would have just let you get hit," he chuckled, but Ziva was alarmed, "It's a joke, Ziva. Did you forget about those while you were out?"

She smacked him. The action reminded her of what Kate had said. She hit him again. "Ouch, what was the second one for?" Tony rubbed his arm; Ziva may have been a little frail from the accident, but she was still strong.

"Stop telling people about Kate's wet t-shirt contest, and get rid of the picture," she remembered the second part of Kate's request, but she didn't know how to do it.

She decided to just go for it, and hopefully Kate would just know that it was for her. Tony was babbling on about how he couldn't get rid of the picture, it was a keepsake. "Tony," Ziva said softly, beckoning him to come closer.

He leaned over so that their faces were mere inches apart. "Yes Ziva?"

And in that instant, everything changed, again. Maybe it was because the nurse decided to go on break, allowing Tony to stay longer maybe it was because something spurred Ziva to kiss Tony's lips instead of his cheek, or maybe it was because Tony kissed her back. Whichever reason it was, everything changed.

Kate smiled down at Tony and Ziva. Despite her stubbornness about the whole situation, Ziva had done what she had asked. Now, Kate's job was done, and she could finally move on.


End file.
